Are you prepared for emergencies? September is National Preparedness Month

In July, there was a launch of a new public service advertisement (PSA) with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Ready Campaign to raise awareness among all people about the importance of being prepared for emergencies.

While the PSA targets everyone, “We Prepare Every Day” is the first in a series of videos that aim to deliver a strong preparedness message by showing people with disabilities taking charge to prepare themselves and their families for emergencies.

The launch of the new PSA coincided with the 25th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) on July 26, and it precedes National Preparedness Month in September. The PSA provides equal access to all viewers by including open captioning, a certified deaf interpreter, and audio description for viewers who are blind or have low vision.

Created pro-bono by Free Range Studios, “We Prepare Every Day” shows whole community and individual emergency and disaster preparedness as a part of everyday planning. One of the goals of the PSA is to encourage all Americans to “Be Informed, Make a Plan, Build a Kit, and Get Involved.” Resources and guidelines on how to do this can be found at Ready.gov/MyPlan.

Be Informed
First, you need to be informed about potential emergencies and disasters where you live, work, or visit. Then, you can go about making a plan that fits you and your loved ones.

Make a Plan
Making a family emergency communication plan with your friends and family before a disaster occurs is important. Why? Because it will help you answer questions: how will you get in touch with each other? How will your family get to a safe place? It’s important to make a plan now so that you will know where to meet, how to find each other following a disaster, and how to communicate in an emergency that works for your family’s specific communication needs.

Build a Kit
While each person’s abilities and needs vary, everyone can take steps to prepare for all types of emergencies. By evaluating your own individual needs and making an emergency plan that ﬁts those needs, you and your loved ones can be better prepared. For example, if being without access to medications, help, or other services you need to maintain your health, safety and independence for even a couple of hours or days could be devastating, and you need to be prepared more than ever.

Get Involved
People with disabilities are encouraged to take a seat at their community and local government- level planning tables. Planning for emergencies and disasters with people who have disabilities and others with access and functional needs rather than planningfor them will allow us to understand and address the needs of the whole community in a disaster.

P.S. Ready is a national PSA campaign designed to educate and empower Americans to prepare for and respond to emergencies including natural and man-made disasters. Since the launch of Ready.gov in 2003, the campaign has received more than $1.1 billion in donated media. We hope you will join the thousands of media partners who have donated space to support this important public service campaign.

Resources about natural disasters in your area: Ready.gov/Prepare has information about natural disasters including Hurricanes, Floods, Earthquakes, Tornados, Wildfires and Winter Storms as well as tips about how to prepare.

Credit: Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Ready Campaign. No compensation was received.